EXCLUSIVE: The most common way companies mitigate tariff costs is…
Continuing uncertainty regarding tariffs is causing companies that sell physical products to take corrective measures.
One-in-three companies that sell physical products pass increased costs from tariffs on to customers. Results from a survey about the impact of tariffs exclusively released to Chain Store Age by operational management software provider Doss reveal other common responses include splitting the cost between company and customers (28%), renegotiating with suppliers to reduce costs (11%) and absorbing costs (11%).
On average, respondents report that 38% of their company’s revenue is directly impacted by tariff policy changes. Just 16% say they are very confident their company’s cost-modeling approach can keep pace with frequent tariff changes. Another 44% say they are somewhat confident, while 16% lack any confidence.
Although the Supreme Court struck down most tariffs imposed by President Trump in a February 2026 ruling, Trump then imposed a 15% "global tariff" under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows him to establish tariffs for 150 days, with Congressional approval needed for any extension. He also indicated he would find other legal justifications to reinstate many of the tariffs.
[READ MORE: Supreme Court rules against tariffs; Trump sets 15% global levy]
The survey also revealed a number of interesting trends in how tariffs are affecting business operations in a variety of areas:
Inventory
- 45% of respondents report holding excess inventory longer than planned.
- 43% say their companies paused or delayed a major product launch within the past 90 days due to tariff-related uncertainty.
Pricing
- 40% of respondents say their companies began repricing affected goods or services in response to tariff changes. Meanwhile, 25% accelerated purchases to lock in pricing, and 25% re-forecasted revenue or margin projections.
- Nearly one-in-three (29%) say their companies have no formal contingency plan for sudden tariff changes, while 34% say their existing plan required significant adaptation.
- Nearly one-in-five (19%) say their companies have no formal method for modeling tariff costs.
- Only 11% say their companies can reprice goods in under a week after a tariff change. In contrast, 48% report it takes three weeks or more, and 17% say their companies have not repriced at all.
Operations
- More than half of respondents (53%) say they are spending more time reacting to trade policy changes than investing in long-term growth.
- Nearly half of respondents (47%) whose companies rely on spreadsheets to model tariff costs lack confidence that the approach can keep pace with frequent policy changes.
- Four-in-10 are accelerating or planning technology investments in response to tariff volatility.
- One in three say their companies have delayed hiring plans, 30% report increased workload or overtime, 26% report employee burnout, 23% say new role approvals have been paused, and 17% report increased employee turnover.
- Customer pricing uncertainty (26%) is the most commonly cited operational challenge. This is followed by difficulty forecasting costs (18%), inventory planning disruptions (16%), and cash flow or working capital strain (12%).
Supreme Court
- Nearly seven-in-10 respondents (69%) do not believe the Supreme Court’s check on executive tariff authority makes trade policy more predictable.
- Three-in-10 (31%) believe the Supreme Court’s judicial check on tariff authority has improved trade policy predictability.
Methodology
Doss surveyed 504 decision-makers (managers, directors, VPs and C-suite) at physical product selling businesses about their experiences through tariff volatility, most recently the 15% universal tariff.
